In Arcade Fire’s 2017 album, Everything Now, the pop rock crew provides a sweeping commentary on loneliness, relationships, and (the search for) rest in a digital age. While Arcade Fire stays true to its anthemic tracks, soaring vocals, and visceral sound, the heavy doses of loneliness leave me incrementally sadder with every listen. The album […]
A Slightly Belated List of the Best Music of 2013
I apologize for the lateness of this “year-end” music list. Hey, good music never goes out of style, right? At the end of every year, I find myself scrambling in an effort to listen to every “important” album that came out during the year just in case I missed the “best” album of the year. […]
“Just a Reflection of a Reflection”: Arcade Fire’s Rendition of Kierkegaard’s Reflective Age
“There’s an essay by Kierkegaard called The Present Age that I was reading a lot that’s about the reflective age. This is like in [1846], and it sounds like he’s talking about modern times. He’s talking about the press and alienation, and you kind of read it and you’re like, ‘Dude, you have no idea how insane […]
New Music: Arcade Fire’s Reflektor
This review comes courtesy of our friend Brooks Tate. I was late to the Arcade Fire party. A friend gave me their first three albums on a flash drive, and those songs lived on my iPod unnoticed for more than six months. Their songs would appear and reappear, but I didn’t pay much attention. Then […]
Another Week Ends: Tribal Morality, Passports to Eden, Reflektor, Spufford in the Times, Social Wiring, Hemingway’s Granddaughter, Anxious Simpsons, and Heisenberg on Ice
1. Next week, Harvard psychologist Joshua Greene is slated to release a new book on behavioral morality, examining the everyday irrationalities and subconscious biases that Kahneman, Tversky and company have popularized over the last few decades (aside: are all titles/covers copying Malcolm Gladwell?). A common behavioral problem, the “trolley experiment”, asks people to make a hypothetical […]
Another Week Ends: Franzen’s Freedom, Strippers at Church, Hairdryers, Gender Jokes, Sufjan and Arcade Fire
1. The reviews for Freedom, Jonathan Franzen’s much-anticipated follow-up to 2001’s The Corrections, are in, and terms like “America’s Greatest Novelist” are once again being thrown around, with the decline of the novel itself being re-evaluated as well. Personally, I love Franzen’s work, especially his essays (he’s got a great one about his involvement in […]
Arcade Fire: The Suburbs
Win Butler, lead singer of Arcade Fire, does not claim to be Christian. Having been raised Mormon, he would later take theology classes at McGill University in Montreal. Today, he is not a churchgoer but still claims to be a very “spiritual” person. In fact, while discussing the band’s previous album, Win said, “Neon Bible […]
How Well Are You Sleeping?
I find it almost universally true that the quality of one’s sleep is a direct reflection of one’s present state of mind. When I have a deadline looming, I always have trouble falling asleep and I unconsciously have a desire to watch awful late night talk shows (yes, even Jimmy Fallon). When I am upset […]
Another Week Ends: Perfomance Reviews, Zimmermania, Godzilla, Reasonability, WASPs, Hipster Xianity, Arcade Fire
1. A fascinating piece over at NY Times titled “Time To Review Work Reviews?” Filled to the brim, as one might imagine, with Law-related gems (ht SZ). Annual reviews not only create a high level of stress for workers, [Dr. Samuel Culbert, clinical psychologist and author of the new Get Rid Of The Performance Review!] […]
Belated March Playlist
1. Wake Up (acoustic) – Arcade Fire 2. You Need A Mess Of Help To Stand Alone – The Beach Boys 3. Breakdown – GNR 4. Back in ’72 – Bob Seger 5. Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now – The Smiths 6. Miracle Cure – Blank + Jones feat. Bernard Sumner 7. Give Some Love […]
January Playlist
Mostly new stuff this time. The Scott Weiland hymn is not be believed… 1. Closer – Kings of Leon 2. The ’59 Sound – The Gaslight Anthem 3. Strange Overtones – David Byrne and Brian Eno 4. Til The End Of Time – Devotchka 5. Family Tree – TV on the Radio 6. Cold Wind […]
Deep Thoughts by Sean Norris
Last night I went to a climbing gym, and I was surprised by how genuinely accepting and nice everyone was. I was clearly the worst climber there, but I didn’t feel an ounce of judgment from anyone. I guess it’s because there’s enough pressure on you when you’re hanging from a cliff.
That’s me in the picture . . . just kidding.
